This is a contemporary work by Gary Bachlund that pairs a lyrical ballade with a structured fugue. It is distinctive for its marriage of late-Romantic harmonic sensibilities with traditional contrapuntal forms.
The primary challenge is maintaining clarity and independent voice leading within the fugal textures.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade and Fugue in D major is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 7.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 5 — meaning you can already play level 4–5 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Ballade and Fugue in D major lasts about 6 minutes.
Ballade and Fugue in D major is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Cakewalk and Fugue in C major by Gary Bachlund, Alice by Gary Bachlund, At the Close of Day by Gary Bachlund — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.